


Midnight Feast

by Metal_Chocobo



Category: Murder Most Unladylike Series - Robin Stevens
Genre: Gen, Stargazing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-26
Updated: 2016-06-26
Packaged: 2018-07-18 10:26:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7311217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Metal_Chocobo/pseuds/Metal_Chocobo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“This is a best friends only feast?” Hazel asked, cottoning on to what Daisy really wanted; something for just the two of them to share.</p>
<p>“Yes. The very best of best friends,” Daisy agreed, smiling.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Midnight Feast

Hazel was rudely shaken awake. Before she could groan a complaint about the early hour a hand clamped over her mouth, which drove away any urge to return to slumber. On high alert Hazel attempted to struggle free, but she was effectively trapped in her sheets.

“Hazel, it’s me. Be quiet,” Daisy hissed, releasing her when Hazel stilled. “Get up. We’re having a midnight feast.”

“Oh,” Hazel said, relaxing. Normally when Daisy decided they were to have a midnight feast she’d mention it during breakfast or bun break, but sometimes it was a spur of the moment decision. Daisy had been busy with shrimps throughout most of their breaks today, so she must not have gotten the chance to mention it to Hazel. “I’ll wake up Beanie, Kitty, and Lavinia.”

“No!” Daisy hissed. “This is a Detective Society members midnight feast only.”

“They’re all members too,” Hazel reminded her, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. Honestly, when Daisy decided something it was almost impossible to change her mind. She still refused to fully acknowledge the other girls’ induction into the society and they had been detectives for over a year now.

“They’re not society officers and this is an officer only meeting,” Daisy sniffed.

“This is a best friends only feast?” Hazel asked, cottoning on to what Daisy really wanted; something for just the two of them to share.

“Yes. The very best of best friends,” Daisy agreed, smiling.

Any reasons Hazel had for including the others melted at that smile. She had never been very good at winning arguments with Daisy, but more and more of late she found herself forgetting what she was saying when Daisy smiled like that. It was a little worrying, so Hazel tried not to think about it.

Sensing that Hazel was finally on board with her plans, Daisy left her side and crossed the dorm to an open window. She climbed through onto the roof and poked her head back into the room. “ Come on.”

“You’re kidding.” Hazel pulled on her bathrobe and walked over to the window. She looked out it, but made no attempt to climb over the sill. “The last time I was out on this roof I nearly died.”

“I wouldn’t have let you fall off.”

“You were angry with me and were too focused on the big girls to pay attention to my climb up the drain pipe. I could have fallen and died without you noticing.”

“Well, you have my full attention now and I won’t let you fall. I promise.” Daisy offered her a hand. “Don’t you trust me?”

“Against my better judgment,” Hazel sighed, taking her hand. She would always take Daisy’s hand.

“That’s the spirit, Wong.” 

With Daisy’s help Hazel slowly climbed through the window. She shivered as her bare feet came in contact with the rough cold shingles. The moon was almost full and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, which gave her a brilliant view of the roof and grounds below. Mostly surprisingly, Hazel spotted a blanket laid out across the far part of the roof with a picnic basket on top. Daisy practically skipped over to the obviously intended site of their midnight feast, while Hazel followed at a slower pace.

“Since we don’t want to wake the others I thought we’d eat out here,” Daisy explained, settling herself on the blanket. “Isn’t this much nicer than in the dorm? We have such a fantastic view of the stars.”

Hazel had to admit it was the perfect sort of night for astronomical purposes, but she’d much rather eat inside where it was warm. Sitting down beside her friend Hazel wished she had one of her pairs of thick wooly socks. Instead, she made do and tucked her feet under her to keep her toes from freezing off. The English might describe the temperature as ‘nippy,’ however she considered it coat weather.

“I didn’t bring anything to the feast,” Hazel said. She felt vaguely guilty about it, even though Daisy had hustled her out here so quickly there hadn’t been time to pull out the chocolate walnut cake she kept on hand for such occasions.

“I packed more than enough for two people,” Daisy assured her. She flipped open the basket and started pulling out food: lemon cake, oatmeal cookies, a jar full of pickles, and a tin of sardines. None of the food exactly matched, but that was the point of a midnight feast—tasting various delights brought together by a group of friends. Daisy seemed particularly determined to be eclectic tonight, since she was the sole source of the delicacies.

“This is quite a spread.”

“You haven’t seen the best part yet,” Daisy grinned. She produced a bundle from the basket and carefully unwrapped it to reveal a bottle of Coca-Cola. “Daddy sent me the bottle in my last care package. Even though you can get it at the soda fountain, I find it always tastes better coming from a bottle. You’re the only person I wanted to share this with.”

“Daisy,” Hazel said softly, feeling touched. This had to be the reason why they were having a midnight feast for two. Daisy wanted to keep the shared soda a secret from the others. She ought to repay the secret in kind. “Hold on, there’s something I want to add.”

“Hazel wait,” Daisy began, but Hazel was already up and scrambling back across the roof for the window.

Her entrance into the room wasn’t the most graceful, but Hazel managed to keep from making too much noise when she hit the floor. Kitty snorted and groaned, but otherwise the girls’ sleep was undisrupted. So, Hazel crept over to her trunk. After grabbing a pair of socks she dug down to the bottom of the trunk to pull out a tin. In minutes Hazel was back outside and seated on the blanket, pulling on her socks.

“You didn’t need to fetch your walnut cake,” Daisy grumbled. “Surely the lemon cake is good enough.”

“This isn’t walnut cake.” Hazel opened the tin to reveal small thick pastries.

“What are they?” Daisy asked, gingerly picking one up. She bit into it and squeaked when lotus paste oozed out. “I’ve never tasted anything like this before!”

“They’re mooncakes. My mother sends them to me monthly because they’re my favorite.”

“You told me walnut cake was your favorite,” Daisy snapped indignantly. After a moment though, she softened. “Is this… like your Chinese name?”

Hazel nodded. “I don’t like drawing attention to my otherness. You know how the girls act when they remember I’m not English. It’s easier for them to pretend I’m just like them if I don’t point out my differences. Mooncakes are not at all English.”

“Am I the only one who knows about these?”

“And I would prefer you keep it that way.”

“Of course,” Daisy nodded. It was obvious she wanted to be offended Hazel even asked she not tell anyone about the mooncakes, but she was too busy being delighted to have learned something special. Daisy firmly believed in knowing secrets and not sharing them with others. She took another large bite of her mooncake and nodded to herself. “I would never reveal any of your secrets, Hazel.”

“Thank you, Daisy.”

“What are best friends for?”

Her smile was so bright and happy Hazel had to look away before she did something foolish. She had already reminded Daisy she wasn’t strictly English and she didn’t want to give her anything else to think about. Hazel wasn’t even certain if her old pash was resurging, but more and more lately it felt like it was. She needed to calm down before she embarrassed herself, so she looked to the skies.

“Oh my gosh,” Hazel gasped as a light streaked across the sky. “That’s a shooting star!”

“Looks like the meteor shower is just starting. Good.” Daisy bumped Hazel’s knee with her own. “This is why I really wanted us to have our midnight feast out here. Thought you’d like to see something special.”

“How did you know about this?”

“Being Head Girl has its benefits. One of the shrimps with a pash told me about it and asked if I wanted to watch it with her.” Daisy bumped her knee against Hazel’s thigh. “Told her thanks, but no thanks. You’re the only person I want to see this with.”

Hazel beamed. She knew Daisy just meant that as best friends, but her words truly made Hazel feel special. They were special to each other. She decided to focus all her attention on the night skies and enjoy this singular event. However, even as more and more meteors soared across the atmosphere Hazel couldn’t fully focus. She kept shivering.

Daisy must have noticed because she eventually made a clucking noise and pulled Hazel’s back to her chest. Then, feeling far warmer and more comfortable, Hazel turned her attention upward. It was wonderful and Hazel enjoyed the natural event immensely, but she couldn’t help noticing that her best friend spent far more time looking down than up. It was the best midnight feast either girl had ever had.


End file.
